Landlord Question and Answer Forum

Hello- We recently bought a full occupied double. The tenants were on month to month leases. One tenant was violating the old landlords lease in multiple ways so since she was on a month to month we decided not to renew her lease. She is now out of the property, but she left extensive damages. (She voided her previous lease by having two cats in the home which no pets were permitted. Damages caused by cat waste thoughout the home) When she knew we were not renewing her lease she must have decided to let the animals use the house as their cat box. She also left tons of trash/old furnature / clothing - a fridge full of food, which thawed and let water run over most of the hardwood kitchen floors destroying them. Needless to say trash removal alone ate up her security deposit. My big question- We bought the home and ran off of the old landlords lease until she vacated 30 days later. His lease does clearly state that she agrees that the property was in good condition and no damages were noted. That is all it states though- no photos or walk though documentation. Now, She has given writen notice that the property left in the home was abandoned and we were to despose of it. (using all but roughly $100 Of her deposit) We have to replace all carpet in the home along with new kitchen flooring due to the water damage caused by the thawing fridge and cat waste. We do have photos of that damage that clearly was caused by her. Do you think we will run into any proplems with the lack of documentation from the previous landlord? She tried telling me that her cats never left waste on the floor- Which the smell clearly states otherwise along with photos- and the fact pets were not permitted in the first place. She also refuses to give me a forwarding address. Any thoughts on how to go about suing for damages above and beyond her deposit amount without contact information and detailed past documentation. Is it a huge hassle and is it worth that hassle? I have roughly $500 more in flooring that will be needed- I will make the repairs to get it rented out but it would be nice to get some of that back since when we bought the home it was in good condition. I am in PA- Any info would be helpful!

I would say do the repairs and upgrade and keep all receipts and proof of all damages, photos anything. Then get the place rented out and take the old tenant to small claims, it is not a big hassle and once you win you can send a collector after the old tenant.

Posted by Richard W, PA on Monday, April 27, 2015